Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Archives for August 2010

“It makes me so angry that I should be made to feel scared walking 2 blocks home”

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Walking home from an evening out last night with a friend, two guys leaning against a car outside a bar, one made some comment like “mmm” i turned around and said ‘excuse me?’ He looked away embarrassed.

After I said goodbye to my friend at her flat I continued towards mine, now on a pretty dark and deserted street there was a guy just ahead of me on the pavement and as I approached him he said, “Hi beautiful thing, do you want to come upstairs with me?”

Now on my own I was wary to say anything back to him, so turned after I had passed him and gave him the dirtiest look I could. After that I kept checking behind me to be sure he wasn’t following me. It makes me so angry that I should be made to feel scared walking two blocks home on my own in the evening.

One other experience sticks in my mind – A few years ago in the metro with a girlfriend on our way out we crossed paths with two guys as we were walking through a tunnel to our next metro connection. They started whistling and making comments to us as we approached them. We ignored them as we walked past them, and one of them got angry and spat at us, a huge glob of spit ran down my friends back, absolutely disgusting, and we had just tried to ignore them.

– Bee

Location: Paris, France

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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Stop Street Harassment Book Released! Win a Copy

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A year ago today, I was in the beginning stages of writing my book about street harassment. Today I am happy to announce that it’s in print and available for purchase from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, or Greenwood.com. My publisher’s main audience is libraries, so in the coming weeks and months you may be able to find it at your local library, too.

View the table of contents, foreword, and introduction.

Whose stories?

Many people bravely shared their stories for this book, including over 900 people who took my informal survey in the fall of 2008, scores of people who shared their stories on this blog (pre-Dec. 2009), and more than 20 activists around the world who let me interview them about their work. Thank you. This book would not be possible without your help.

Free Book Giveaway Contest!

Who: YOU! Your friends, family, colleagues, classmates, neighbors.

What: Enter a random drawing to win a free, signed copy of the Stop Street Harassment book.

When: You have until 7 p.m. EDT on 8/26/10 to enter. I’ll post the winner’s name on my blog and email her/him around 8 p.m. EDT on 8/26. The winner will received a mailed copy next week. This contest is open to people anywhere in the world – the book covers street harassment globally.

How: Email stopstreetharassmentATyahooDOTcom with your name (which I will not share or sell) or enter by tweeting about the contest (include @hkearl, @stopstharassmnt or “street harassment” so I can find it).

Book Release Events!

Please join me for free book release events in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 2 and in New York City on Sept. 10. Local activists from the area who are featured in my book will join me to talk about their work.

You can also contact me if you would like me to speak at a venue near you.

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Not an “ugly trout”

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I had just finished work in a charity shop, it was a Saturday and i hadn’t had a really good day. it was raining, i was tired and my hair had got messy through rushing about so i felt miserable and paranoid about my appearance (i have ocd – obsessive compulsive disorder and one of my obsessions is my hair).

As i was walking past the supermarket to get to the bus stop, two young men looked at me and one yelled, “‘Oi, u fucking fat bitch!”

i looked at him and felt anger bubbling up and told him to fuck off. he continued to shout more abuse at me calling me an ugly trout. i quickly got on my bus and had to try very hard not to cry.

by the way, im not fat, im just a bit curvy. im a tall girl, a size 16. i get told quite often how attractive i am but it seems that some people will call women fat if they were just an ounce overweight! pathetic.

– Clarice

Location: Porthcawl, South Wales

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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Kissing gropers in East Jerusalem

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A group of five young men approached me on a walkway near a busy road. Other pedestrians were around, although not close to where we were. They started talking to me, surrounding me as I started walking away, towards the road. Two of them linked their arms with mine, put their other hands on my breasts and kissed me on each cheek. I threw them off and made it to the safety of a family on the corner.

–  Anonymous

Location: East Jerusalem, Israel

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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Weekly Round Up: August 22, 2010

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Story Submissions Recap:

I accept street harassment submissions from anywhere in the world. Share your story!

In the News, On the Blogs:

Events:

Announcements:

10 Tweets from the Week:

Resource of the Week:

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